photo: George Greer, Oliver Marmol, Jose Oquendo (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
Greer is out
This is the time of year during which player development personnel across baseball are either offered new contracts for the next season or are informed that their services are no longer desired.
In a move that was both surprising and not, the St. Louis Cardinals have let minor league hitting strategist George Greer go. The changes were first reported by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Many casual Cardinals fans recall that Greer was part of the two-headed interim hitting coach approach taken by St. Louis in July, 2018 after the firing of John Mabry. His partner, Mark Budaska, remained with the big-league club as assistant hitting coach for 2019 under new head man Jeff Albert, before his mid-season firing over differences in approach. It would appear that Greer’s departure is a continuation of these organizational changes in hitting philosophy.
Following last season, Greer, 72, returned to his prior role leading Cardinals minor league hitting instruction. His unique title was created when he joined the organization in 2015 because the Cards already had a hitting coordinator at the time, Derrick May.
After his playing days in the Cardinals system (1968-1971) ended, Greer began a long career in amateur coaching, including successful stints in the Cape Cod League, where he is a Hall of Famer, and at Davidson and Wake Forest Universities. He managed and coached in the New York Mets system and was brought into the Cardinals by Director of Player Development Gary LaRocque, who had been a Mets executive and like Greer, originally hailed from the Northeast.
Steinhorn is in
Greer’s replacement is a former Houston Astros colleague of Alberts’, Russ Steinhorn. Steinhorn was most recently assistant hitting coordinator for the Philadelphia Phillies and was in charge of player development for Clemson University’s baseball program in 2018.
From 2013-2017, the 34-year old spent five years in Houston’s system. That included three years as hitting coach in the New York-Penn League and a year each managing in the Dominican Summer League and Class-A Midwest Leagues.
Prior to becoming a professional coach, Steinhorn coached and recruited for UNC Greensboro and Delaware State. He is a grad of Southeastern University (2008) and earned a Masters while at Delaware State.
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